Public Display of Affection
by Mindy35
Summary: Jack/Liz. Jack spies Liz in an unguarded moment.


Title: Public Display of Affection

Author: Mindy

Rating: K

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Spoilers: Nope. Inspired by a few of Liz Lemon's love interests but not one in particular.

Summary: Jack/Liz. Jack spies Liz in an unguarded moment.

-x-

Jack's not sure when he started seeing Lemon as beautiful. It wasn't straight away, he knows that. He spent a good few months more intent on working her out than actually looking at her. And there is no one moment in his recollection that he can pinpoint as the moment it really struck him. There was no one dress or hairstyle or look that did it. There was nothing detectable that altered her in his mind from being just plain Lemon to being…well, beautiful Lemon.

He's usually pretty good at picking up on that sort of thing. He can tell a fine wine from a less superior one, can appreciate good art and a classic tune. And if a woman is beautiful, it's usually the first thing he notices about her.

With Lemon, though, it took him slightly longer. Perhaps because she is beautiful in a way that most women he is surrounded by are not. Lemon is beautiful in a way that has nothing to do with construct or even intention. She is beautiful in a way that is entirely unique and entirely hers. Lemon can be beautiful rolling her eyes or displaying her ignorance or berating her staff or wearing work sneakers or eating pizza. It's a singular gift.

She isn't doing any of these things, however, when he spots her, through the crowd. She is standing by the railing of Rockefeller Plaza in her winter coat and grey hat. Her cheeks are pink either from the cold or from the gaze of the man standing with her. A little too close for Jack's liking but Lemon doesn't seem to mind. Her toes turn inward as she shuffles a little closer, probably for body heat.

She is not quite looking at the man who is a good deal taller than her -- maybe too tall -- but when the wind blows her hair across her face, he tucks it behind her ear. His hand lingers there and her dark eyes slide up to his. A shy mannerism which Jack has seen only a few times, and only exemplifies the beauty she is so unaware of possessing.

It strikes him, in that moment, as completely obvious. How beautiful she is.

The man's fingers drift down her jaw and tilt up her chin. Lemon's lips part but her eyes don't close until the very last moment, as if part of her is expecting him to abort the kiss at any time. He doesn't, and Jack doesn't know why on earth he would. With her looking at him like she just was with those intense, brown eyes. Not many men could resist.

Jack knows he wouldn't. If he were in the other man's place. He never plans to be, but if he were, he would do exactly the same.

He would kiss her full on the mouth – a mouth Jack has always supposed would taste a little like spearmint. He's not sure why, particularly as he's never seen Lemon pop a mint. It would be far more logical to assume that her mouth would taste like peperoni or cupcake or both. But in any case, Lemon's companion seems to enjoy however she tastes as he's drawn her close, his hands on her waist and her head tipped back so far that her hair is free falling down her spine.

Her hands creep up the arms of the tall man's coat as she kisses him back. Hands that Jack realizes he has grown very familiar with -- their shape and size, the small knuckles and unpainted nails. They're usually flighty and fidgety – absently rolling up script pages or adjusting her glasses as they walk and talk. Over the years, those same hands have touched him only a few times and mostly only in token gestures. He is definitely not used to seeing them publicly caressing the frame of another man, even outside his clothes.

Jack watches from afar, strangely transfixed and can't help but wonder how well this man knows Liz Lemon. Not that she doesn't deserve to be kissed and kissed well. Actually, he's often thought a good kiss was exactly what Lemon needed. He just didn't consider himself to be the right man for the job.

But what he is wondering is, what version of Liz Lemon this man seems so enamoured with. Is he kissing the Liz who sometimes presents herself to the world as a confident, together woman with a closet full of little black dresses and the best job in the city? Or has this mystery man of hers in fact, met and fallen in love with the real Liz Lemon? The Liz Lemon that _he_ knew. The neurotic and the nerd. The loner and workaholic. The talkative, impulsive geek who periodically strolls the halls of 30 Rock with him.

Unfortunately, he has no answer to this. This apparent relationship is one Liz has not as yet chosen to confide in him about. He's not sure whether that makes him feel better or worse -- and he's not sure what he has to feel unhappy about in the first place.

When Lemon's man pulls back from their kiss, he doesn't release her entirely, his large hands wrapping more possessively about her waist. He is smiling at her. She is smiling at him. The sort of smile two people share when they have a secret. Lemon lowers her heels to the ground after being on tiptoe to reach his mouth. He tucks her hair behind her ear again -- totally unnecessarily, Jack notes as there was no danger of it flying in her face again.

It's one thing Jack wouldn't repeat, if he were in the other man's place. He assumes it would make her self-conscious, as he's aware she is insecure about, amongst many other things, the size of her ears. Her companion does not seem put off by them though and nor should he be. Lemon's ears, though perhaps a little larger than average, are as perfectly charming as the rest of her.

Jack assumes that Lemon's man suggests they get a meal together because her eyes suddenly light up in a way that for any other woman would mean a declaration of undying love and for Lemon can only mean the possibility of an obscene amount of food. Her eyes were fairly lit up already though. She nods wholeheartedly then reaches up to kiss him again, this time briefly, one hand grasping his tie.

The way she does it is undeniably sexy, especially for Lemon, and Jack is vaguely shocked. He didn't know she had it in her to emit such a vibe and he wonders whether she realizes she's doing it. And if she realizes how good she could be at it if she really tried, which he assumes she's not. The brief kiss turns into a series of short kisses and by the fifth, Jack stops counting them.

Her man is watching her kiss him, his eyes only half-closed. Her lips look red, maybe a little chapped, and Jack is again struck by how many times he's watched those lips formulate a pitch-perfect quip or seen them wrap themselves around a sandwich the size of a football but he's never seen them kiss anyone before.

It's oddly fascinating. Disconcertingly so. He knows he should look away. But he doesn't.

The man nuzzles his face against the side of hers and whispers something in Lemon's ear that promptly makes her laugh. Only slightly uncomfortably. She glances about them, probably fearing that passers-by might overhear. It occurs to Jack how unusual it is for Liz, as shy and squeamish as she is, to indulge in an unabashed PDA, especially in such proximity to her hallowed workplace. Whoever this guy is, she must really like him.

It's not often that Lemon gets wrapped up in someone, but when she does it's fully and exclusively. She has the sort of unwavering focus and enthusiasm rarely seen, except in schoolgirls, and not always then. It should seem wildly out of place in a woman her age and yet, to Jack, it's just one more thing he likes about her.

Tall man seems to be persuading her, bending down to catch her gaze and a moment later, Liz rolls her eyes and takes out her cell phone. She pushes a button and leans back against the railing, her shoulder resting against the man's chest as he leans back also, looking very much like the cat that got the cream. Or rather, the man that won Liz Lemon.

Jack jumps as his cell phone rings. He slips behind a concrete pillar to answer it.

"Jack, it's me," Lemon says without preamble: "I'm gonna take a half-day, okay?"

For a moment Jack is tempted to ask why, just to see whether Lemon will opt for the truth or a lie. Taking time off for her personal life is a rare occurrence for Lemon, to say the least. And, in the past he would actually have encouraged her having a decent meal with an eligible man who made her smile and whispered sweet nothings in her perfectly charming ear. He would also have encouraged her following that meal with a lazy afternoon of what he assumes will be far more than just kissing and handholding, if their public display of affection is any indication.

"Jack, are you there?"

"Yes, Lemon, I heard you."

He starts to walk towards his original destination, whatever it was, wishing he could think of a decent reason for her to remain at work. Or even something he wanted to discuss with her that might keep her on the phone a little longer. But he can't think of a single thing. And anyway, from the day he first encountered Liz Lemon -- beautiful or not -- Jack had never been able to deny her much.

"Of course, Lemon," he says into his phone: "If you think Pete can handle Tracy in Dress."

"Ha!" she responds like he's said something intentionally suggestive. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time. Am I right?"

Jack lets his silence speak for itself.

"So I guess…I'll see ya tomorrow," she chirps, her tone uncharacteristically cheery.

"Enjoy your afternoon, Lemon."

"Enjoy your conference…thing," she adds then ends the call before he has the chance to reply.

He tucks his cell phone into his pocket and is about to duck into his limo when he turns back. He sees Lemon disappear into the crowd with her now mittened hand in her mystery man's. And Jack wonders, not for the first time, whether he's is cursed to always watch beautiful women walk away from him.

Still, he muses as he steps inside his car, if he were to actually loose Liz Lemon one day as he'd lost other women in his life, her beauty, however undeniable and distinctive, is probably the last thing about her that he'd miss.

_END._


End file.
